Vehicle projection system

Abstract

The present technology relates to a vehicle projection system comprising a light source configured to provide an output beam. A light splitting device is coupled to the light source to receive the output beam. Two or more optical fibers are coupled to the light splitting device to receive a split output beam from the light splitting device. Two or more projector devices are coupled to the two or more optical fibers. The two or more projector devices are configured to provide one or more display images using light received from the split output beam on one or more display surfaces in a vehicle. A vehicle including the vehicle projection system and a method of providing display images at a plurality of locations in a vehicle are also disclosed.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A vehicle projection system comprising:
 a light source configured to provide an output beam;   a light splitting device coupled to the light source to receive the output beam;   two or more optical fibers coupled to the light splitting device to receive a split output beam from the light splitting device; and   two or more projector devices each coupled to at least one of the two or more optical fibers, the two or more projector devices configured to provide one or more display images using light received from the output beam on one or more display surfaces in a vehicle.   
     
     
         2 . The vehicle projection system of  claim 1 , wherein the light source comprises one or more lasers or solid state light sources. 
     
     
         3 . (canceled) 
     
     
         4 . The vehicle projection system of  claim 1 , wherein the light splitting device comprises an optical splitter or an optical multiplexer. 
     
     
         5 . (canceled) 
     
     
         6 . The vehicle projection system of  claim 1 , wherein the light splitting device is configured to split the output beam unequally based on display requirements for the two or more projector devices. 
     
     
         7 . The vehicle projection system of  claim 1 , wherein each of the two or more projector devices comprises a light modulator configured to selectively provide the display image, and the light modulator is selected from the group consisting of a digital micromirror array, a liquid-crystal device, and a scanned linear diffraction grating. 
     
     
         8 . The vehicle projection system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the two or more projector devices comprises a scanning laser projector configured to provide a display image on a plurality of display surfaces of the vehicle. 
     
     
         9 . The vehicle projection system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more display surfaces comprise one or more of a windshield, a window, a mirror, a pillar, a side panel of a door, a headrest, a dashboard, a console, a seat, or any portion thereof, of the vehicle. 
     
     
         10 . The vehicle projection system of  claim 1 , further comprising one or more cameras coupled to the two or more projector devices, the one or more cameras positioned to capture images for display on at least one of the one or more display surfaces of the vehicle. 
     
     
         11 . The vehicle projection system of  claim 1 , further comprising an eye location tracking device coupled to the two or more projector devices, the eye location tracking device configured to determine a viewing angle for at least one passenger in the vehicle, wherein at least one of the two or more projector devices provides the display image based on the determined viewing angle. 
     
     
         12 . The vehicle projection system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the two or more projector devices is coupled to a vehicle onboard computer to receive one or more items of data related to the vehicle from the vehicle onboard computer for display in the display image. 
     
     
         13 . The vehicle projection system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the two or more projector devices further comprises a detection device configured to detect user movement with respect to the display image. 
     
     
         14 . (canceled) 
     
     
         15 . A vehicle comprising the vehicle projection system of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         16 . A method of providing display images in a vehicle comprising the vehicle projection system of  claim 1 , the method comprising:
 splitting the output beam among the two or more optical fibers;   directing the split output beam to the two or more projection devices through the two or more optical fibers; and   selectively projecting the display images to the one or more display surfaces in the vehicle using light received from the split output beam.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the splitting further comprises splitting the at least one output beam unequally based on display requirements for the two or more projector devices. 
     
     
         18 . (canceled) 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16  further comprising:
 tracking an eye location of at least one passenger in the vehicle using an eye location tracking device; 
 determining a viewing angle for the at least one passenger in the vehicle based on the tracked eye location; and 
 providing the display image from at least one of the two or more projectors based on the determined viewing angle. 
 
     
     
         20 . A vehicle projection system comprising:
 a light source configured to provide an output beam;   a projector device coupled to the light source, the projector device configured to provide one or more display images using light received from the output beam on at least two different display surfaces in a vehicle.   
     
     
         21 - 22 . (canceled) 
     
     
         23 . The vehicle projection system of  claim 20 , wherein the projector device comprises a light modulator configured to selectively provide the display image, and the light modulator is selected from the group consisting of a digital micromirror array, a liquid-crystal device, and a scanned linear diffraction grating. 
     
     
         24 . (canceled) 
     
     
         25 . The vehicle projection system of  claim 20 , wherein the display surfaces comprise one or more of a windshield, a window, a mirror, a pillar, a side panel of a door, a headrest, a dashboard, a console, a seat, or any portion thereof, of the vehicle. 
     
     
         26 . (canceled) 
     
     
         27 . The vehicle projection system of  claim 20 , further comprising an eye location tracking device coupled to the projector device, the eye location tracking device configured to determine a viewing angle for at least one passenger in the vehicle, wherein the projector device is movable to provide the display image based on the determined viewing angle. 
     
     
         28 . The vehicle projection system of  claim 20 , wherein the projector device is coupled to a vehicle onboard computer to receive one or more items of data related to the vehicle from the vehicle onboard computer for display in the display image. 
     
     
         29 . (canceled) 
     
     
         30 . (canceled)